Count On Me
by moodyreindeer
Summary: A year later Luke finally thinks it's time to meet his mother. With Emma in tow, they travel at three in the morning to the place where all his questions could possibly be answered - Detroit. One-Shot.


**I've been wanting to write another Jessie thing in forever, and I finally managed to do it! A new year, a new resolution, right? (Just kidding - I ditched that promise to myself months ago.)  
**

**It's basically just following along the plot **_**Lizard Scales**_**_ and Wrestling Tales_**** had, except a year later. **

**No Luke/Emma romance, but sibling fluffiness can't be avoided.**

* * *

What are two growing teenagers supposed to be doing at three twenty-one on a Thursday morning?

This wasn't exactly rocket science.

They were supposed to sleep. Like the normal human beings they were.

But apparently _normal_ didn't fit into Luke Ross's vocabulary, for he had no problem sneaking into his sister's room and practically kidnapping her.

"Emma!" He hissed. "Get up. The train leaves in forty-five minutes!"

The blond was able to comprehend his words enough to crack an eye open and glare at him. "I refuse to get up before the sun does," she retorted darkly, flipping onto her stomach and hiding her face in her pillow.

"Com'n! Or we're gonna be late!"

"For what?" Emma snorted into her pillow.

"The train ride!" Luke wiggled one of the two tickets underneath her face.

Emma sat up, squinting at the tiny print in the moonlight seeping into her room.

"You booked us a four thirty train ride for Detroit?" Emma hissed, taking the tickets in two hands.

"It's the only one I could get so we could get back before anyone woke up!" Luke insisted, giving a hard yank to her covers, letting it fall to her carpeted floor. "Now we need to go!"

Emma didn't know what compelled her to go along, but she found herself shooing him out of the room so she could cover up her short shorts with a comfy pair of sweats and put on hoodie. November wind in New York was brutal, especially on such an early morning.

Once she was in a pair of Uggs, she and Luke hurried down the stairs in a silent frenzy, running through the kitchen and out the door. After all, elevator's brought too much attention - a lesson learned from many years of sneaking out.

They passed a tired Tony slumped over in a peaceful slumber, using a puddle of leaking drool as a pillow. Emma grimaced, letting Luke pull her out the doors.

"How long have you been cooking up this little scheme of yours anyway?" Emma pants. She supposed them sneaking onto a train before sunrise wasn't that extravagant, considering Luke could have stolen their parents' helicopter or convinced Tony to give up his car for the morning.

Luke shrugged. "Eh, kind've just been on my mind lately, no biggie."

He whistled, waving a hand to flag down an oncoming taxi. They climbed in, Luke giving the taxi driver, a burly guy with heavily tattooed arms and a cigar dangling out of his mouth with a jumpy mustache, a polite set of directions to the train station.

"You are aware we aren't going to make it home until at least eight in the morning, right?" Emma reminded him, burrowing her chilled hands into the pocket of her hoodie.

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as if Emma were a pestering little kid, jabbing his head with sharp-pointed questions that continued in stubborn earnest. "Yes, Emma, I know this."

"Then do you mind explaining how you think we'll get off when Jessie does her morning routine check-up and finds us both gone?"

"I left a note."

Emma rolled her eyes. Didn't he know anything. "Jesse'll still panic, probably so hard she won't even look for a note."

"That's why I left it on Bertram's early morning bacon and donuts plate he keeps hidden in the microwave." Luke waved a flippant hand in her direction. "Don't worry, it'll get to somebody. . .assuming he doesn't eat it first."

Emma sighed, leaning her head against the window, because arguing to turn around would be a waste of breath at this point. She could already spot the top of the train station in the distance, past blinking traffic lights and moving cars.

She'd heard stories about Detroit. None from solid sources, of course (because nothing New York was exactly built from a solid set of sources). but it was supposedly a knock-off in New York, sleazy and dirty, many dark allies and not the cleanest reputation, but still a place you couldn't stay away from.

Luke tossed a wad of cash at the driver, pushing her out the door once they screeched to a stop in front of the station. Even at such an early - or maybe it's late - hour, people linger outside, lighting up for a smoke or talking on the phone. Luke dragged her inside, his hands tightening around her wrist. Even with his taut grip, she could tell he was nervous by how his fingers shook against her skin.

"Are you sure about this?" Emma asked quietly as they settle in a row of plastic blue seats in a makeshift lobby.

Luke nodded, but his right bounced like a flip had switch; he was sure, but he was also terrified.

Emma placed her hand on his knee and squeezed, showing her faith, even though the thought of getting in trouble (she'd just gotten a new phone and upgraded her laptop for double the capacity) wasn't so appealing.

But it was for Luke.

And it wouldn't hurt to tag along into her brother's past - as long as she was there to snap him back if he ventured in too deep, but at this point, she hardly doubted he would think twice about going back with her, where he belonged.

"Detroit! All for Detroit!"

"That's us," Luke muttered, and his anticipation crept through his voice like a shudder of a window in a storm. Emma looped their arms together, pulling him to the man standing near a train entrance.

The man tipped his hat and took their tickets, but neither of them missed the way he eyed their attire of sweatpants and hoodies, not to mention the lack of luggage. But he couldn't exactly say anything either, because they had their tickets and Emma was staring him down with a challenging glimmer, as if daring him to say a word.

When their boarding went without a protest, Emma dragged her brother to middle seats, calming pulling them to a sitting position.

She'd never been on a train before. Her parents were never ones for traditional travel - why would they be when they can affored toys like helicopters and private jets?

It was a bit unusual, watching people hustle and squish and mutter polite, rushed apologies as they walked to their seats and strapped up their lugauge in the cramped compartments above their seats.

While it wasn't terrible - the subway was much, much worse - the slowness gave her unnecessary nerves. Emma was used to flapping a hand and signaling the pilot to take off toward some glamorous destination, not leaving the departure time up to the quickness of a crowded train cabin and a conductors.

After a short announcement on a sity second delay - that came through so clearly Emma went shell shocked - they were moving, slowly chugging along down the tracks.

It would be about a two to three hour train ride, if there weren't as many holdups as there were went it came to the subway. (But what kind of holdups could happen to a train before five am?)

Emma spent most of the ride watching Luke's face change from excited to sad to anxious to agitated to something caught between constipation and nostalgia. She felt a little relieved when the plump lady next to them struck up casual conversation with them, but also a little bit of fear - it wasn't everyday some random stranger struck up a conversation with her and brother, after all.

"Ah, you two remind me of my own children," she told them, a wistful expression glimmering in her eyes. "They were always on the tip of their toes, too."

Emma smiled. She was tired and yearned with a deep longing for her bed and fluffy pillows, but it wouldn't do any good to be bitter to this nice woman for no reason. "Oh? Do they live in New York?"

"No, I'm on my way to them in Detroit. Spring Break is one of the only times I get with them." The woman folded her hands in her lap, her nails colored like the skin of the perfect red apple.

"What year of college are they?" Luke asked, speaking for the first time since they boarded an hour ago.

"Both juniors. Growing up so fast, it makes me realize how old I'm getting," the woman laughed, smiling widely at the both of them.

Emma could see how caught off guard Luke was, even though he tried his best to mask for this woman's sake. He was as unprepared as she, considering this middle-aged woman didn't exactly scream the kind of attitude one would get from a native in New York.

"Oh, goodness, I haven't even told you my name," the woman realized, then stuck out her hand and politely introduced herself. "I'm Suzanna Welsh."

Emma took her hand and pumped it kindly. "We're Luke and Emma."

Suzanna smiled at them warmly. "And where are two teenagers off to this early in the morning?"

"Oh, it's nothing too dramatic, really." The lie slid so smoothly off Emma's tongue, they might as well have been Luke's instead of hers. "Our parents sent us ahead because they ran out of tickets for the eight am train. We're going to visit some family for the weekend."

"How lovely," Suzanna commented with another exposure of her pearly whites.

She slipped into a fond chatter of all she planned to do with her children on their break, soothing Emma's nerves. She slid her eyes over to her brother's, and she knew they would be fine. While visiting family had been a long stretch, it wasn't a lie.

But Luke's solid gaze on hers confirmed her thoughts: biological or not, this lady wouldn't fit under the classifacation of family like the Rosses did.

* * *

Suzanna was reluctant to leave them by themselves in a cramped train station, but Emma and Luke finally managed to flag away her efforts to stay with them when they insisted for the umpteenth time that their aunt (who remained nameless throughout the entire conversation) would arriving shortly to take them to her house on the edge of town.

"She's a bit. . .extreme," Luke decided as they watched Suzanna's plump figure disappear in the thickening crowd.

Emma shrugged, zipping up her hoodie once more and burrowing in. It had to have dropped at least five degrees since they exited the train. "I thought she was nice, just feeling a mild case of empty nest syndrome."

Luke shrugged, tired as well, and together they swiftly erased themselves from inside the Detroit train station and into the muggy streets.

For the first time since being roughly dragged from her bed that morning, Emma began to wonder about Vanessa Colsen, and if she would meet Luke's expectations. She hoped the woman would, considering Luke had a lot of faith riding on this measly visit to a lady that didn't even know they in the city, let alone coming just to visit her.

Emma didn't have to wonder long, Vanessa Colsen's diner, Ray's, appeared to them with a blinking neon sign after walking a ruddy four streets with very little sense of direction on where they were going.

"See!" Luke exclaimed happily, pointing with enthusiasm that drew odd looks from passing strangers. "Not all aimless wandering is useless, Emma!"

Emma rolled her eyes as he dragged her closer to the twenty-four hour diner, pausing to stand outside the doors.

Two minutes, he hadn't made the move to go in.

"Um, Luke?" Emma said to him gingerly. "Not to insensitive or anything, but just standing out here staring in is making us look like beggar children."

Luke turned to her with an eye roll. "I highly doubt beggar children where designer pajama bottoms and Forever 21 boots, Em."

Emma looked down at her footwear of choice and winced. But Luke wasn't much better, donning a pajama set from Calvin Klein's men sleepwear collection.

"Oh, come on!" Emma gave him a hefty shove, pushing him through the diner door.

Luke let out a high yelp, catching himself just seconds before his feet could slip from underneath him.

Curious eyes wandered over to the pair, people behind early cups of steaming coffee eying the sibling duo with slight interest and mild annoyance.

"Thanks a lot, Emma," Luke hissed once he was back at her side. "I was kind of hoping not to draw attention to myself!"

Emma rolled her eyes at her brother's dramatics. People were going to have to know they were there sooner or later - it just so happened to be sooner.

Rising on to her tiptoes, Emma began subtly scanning the employees behind the counter, keeping an out for brunette woman that could bare any resemblance to Luke: same dark, deceivingly innocent brown eyes; a splatter of freckles across the cheeks and nose; the same cheery mouth set.

"Well, do you see anyone that could be your mother?" Emma asked moments later after concluding she had come up empty-handed.

Luke's brows furrowed, shaking his head, the action surprisingly lacking the defeat she had expected to see. "No, but that doesn't mean we can't ask questions."

Grabbing her wrist, Luke dragged her toward the counter, where a lady with her black hair trapped around a pencil and her dark skin oddly illuminated underneath the white light of diner stood, manning the cash register.

"We're looking for a lady," Luke bluntly stated before the poor woman could work out a simple greeting.

The lady's - Emma caught her name tag reading Rhonda - eyebrows rose as she gave them a calculating once-over. "Aren't you two a little young to be looking for some lady in diner?" she asked finally.

While Emma's eyes went wide at the implication, not to mention an embarrassed blush settling over her cheeks, Luke shook his head, apparently unfazed at Rhonda's brass words.

"Um, actually, we kind of have an open invite," Emma laughed nervously, pulling the letter she had been sober enough to grab off the picture frame on their way out from her jacket pocket to hand over to a skeptical looking Rhonda.

Taking it in her hands, Rhonda began to murmur along as she skimmed the page, suspicion fading the further she read.

"Well, I be damned." She met their anxious gazes, looking a little stunned. "You're little 'Nessy's Lukie, aren't you?"

From behind his sister's shoulder, Luke gave a timid nod and a weak smile. "That's me," he chuckled, the noise sounding cracked.

After another tense, awkward stare down, Rhonda spun and hollered toward the kitchen double doors. "'Nessy! You have company!"

Moments later, way before Emma was mentally prepared for, a slender woman with a brown side braid and a river of freckles on the bridge of her nose peeked her head out of the door.

"What is it, Rhonda?" the woman asked, only sounding mildly irritated at the interruption. "Rico's having trouble with the fryer and the last thing we need is for him to catch his apron on fire! _Again_!"

"Oh, that idiot," Rhonda grumbled, pushing past a confused Vanessa Colsen and into the kitchen, yelling, "RICO! WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT BEING NEAR THAT DAMNED STOVE WITH THAT APRON ON?"

Vanessa sighed, looking back at the closing doors affectionately.

When she turned around, she looked ready to drop on the spot.

"Oh, shit."

* * *

"So, your parents just let you come all the way to Detroit at five in the morning to come see some weird diner owner?" Vanessa accused, raising her thinly plucked eyebrows at the guilty-looking teenagers across the table.

Emma eyed her carefully. Most of the similarities between her and Luke could be noticed instantaneously: the naturally slight flare of their nostrils; the curly darkness of their hair; the endless supply of freckles.

Differences took a little more concentration to find; Vanessa's eyes were the color of fresh spring grass and surrounded by sagging sleepy skin while Luke's were deep pools of coffee and pulled tight because how much he laughed. Luke's lashes were longer and moved more languidly, hitting the rise of his cheekbones whenever he blinked. Vanessa's were fast and fluttery, never making contact with her skin.

"Nah, it'd just be our nanny, and she's pretty chill," Emma said finally, giving an easy smile. "The worst she'll do is ground us and take away our helicopter privileges for a few weeks."

Luke leaned closer, loudly whispering in his sister's ear. "Emma? Are you forgetting that Jessie mentions pulling out her father's tank any time a kid at school looks at us weird?"

Emma jabbed him in the ribs. "Shhh..."

Vanessa's skinny eyebrows quirked higher up her forehead, the freckled skin wrinkling into tiny waves. "Well, I have to say I admire your guts, so I must reward you with something. I'm assuming you came here for some answers?"

At this, Emma froze. She knew that Luke had dragged her along for a sense of moral support, but what exactly did he want from Vanessa? She had to assume it would be answers to lifelong questions, or at least a need for stories.

But was she as ready as him to hear the answers?

Luke, in total honesty, wasn't looking too prepared as he stared queasily down at his hot chocolate - on the house, even though it was obvious they could afford two mugs of hot cocoa from a Detroit diner.

Vanessa, having picked up on their uneasiness, deciding to do the talking for them. "Well," she began in a warm, storyteller voice, "I was eighteen and taking a year off of college. I was going to be a History major, then get my degree in teaching.

"My parents were the wealthy type; a CEO and a lawyer. Not the most romantic pair of parents you've ever met - always so nose-deep in work it was miracle they remembered to breathe. But I was an okay kid; smart enough to pick up on the attention that I wouldn't constantly have. But I had Minnie next door and my poetry books, so life was pretty good.

"I got into Michigan, full ride and everything. The year was to chill and plan and press pause on things for a while, put some on the back burner, let others sizzle for while, you know?"

Emma watched, mesmerized, as Vanessa's spidery hands began to follow along with the pace of her words. Her eyes grew bigger and glossier with each punctuated end of a sentence. Sure, she'd heard her parents get excited over big negotiations or a new idea for a movie but she'd never seen them speak with as much passion and fierceness that Vanessa did about her simple dream of teaching.

It was astounding.

"But then, a party happened." Vanessa paused, looking at her index finger as it stooped to begin making swirls in the tabletop. "It was my choice to go and I knew exactly what I was getting into of course, but it was still one of those 'Oh my God' moments when I found out about it."

Emma's lips pursed in a tight line. The magic of the story was gone.

"Not to think that I regretted it or anything!" Vanessa added quickly, head shooting up as she smiled nervously. "Trust me, I always loved the thought of starting a family, having a little kiddo of mine own. I think every person wants that at one point in their lives.

"But I was still a teenager - young and dumb, full of mistakes and alcohol. I wasn't ready for a baby on my own."

Unasked questions about the father hang between them, hovering on the table like an anvil threatening to slam onto their heads.

Yet, his story seemed to be told, wordless.

Heat flushed her cheeks for no apparent reason except that Emma knew her father since birth, and to avoid anyone catching sight of it she tipped her head forward and trained her blush at the table.

From the reassuring squeeze Luke's hand gave her own, though, it was clear her subtle attempt had failed.

"Are you happy?" Vanessa's suddenly quiet and somber tone snapped Emma's head to the present like a rubber band. "With the Rosses, I mean?"

It took a moment or two for Luke to gather his head and make it straight even for him to fully answer.

"Yeah." Luke gave another squeeze to his sister's hand; the weight of it was warm and firm in his lap. "I really, really am."

* * *

After that, there isn't much for them to talk about except for Luke's basic questions.

What's her favorite color?

Sky blue.

When's her birthday?

June 23rd.

Was Detroit her first place to live when she gave him up for adoption?

Not even close. Vanessa had her eyes set on a sleepy little town in Minnesota close to her grandparents, but her mother or father refused to fund the move.

After a second round of hot chocolates, Emma and Luke bid Vanessa and her small diner crew a final goodbye, leaving a promise of future visits in their wake.

The train ride back passed in a series of blurry trees lost in a sleepy daze. The consequences of missing a few more much needed hours of sleep were finally taking a tool on Emma, making her head heavy with fatigue. From the way Luke's head lolled and his eyes drooped, she could tell he was feeling it too.

Well, at least they'll be able to catch some more shuteye over the next few weeks, because Emma was positive that once Jessie caught them, they wouldn't be seeing the light of day (or any electrical device) until they hit their thirties.

Yet, the worries about punishment didn't occur until they well past the swell of citizens in the train station and the rushing streets of New York and entering the lobby of their penthouse, Tony tripping over himself to catch them at the elevator.

"Just to warn you," he panted, already out of breath from the short distance, "Jessie's gonna _kill_ you two when you get up there."

The pair share a look; they expected more than just a slaughterhouse when facing their overprotective nanny.

Either way, the siblings thank Tony for his obvious heads up and brave the elevator.

"What're you thinking? A month, strictly to school and back with no friends allowed?" Emma wagered during the ride up.

Luke's mouth twitched into a smirk. "Please, she'll probably say a year without movie premieres then shrink it down to two months after missing her slight chances of meeting someone famous."

Emma managed a laugh before the elevator dinged and the doors slid open.

They weren't disappointed.

Zuri, Ravi, and even a mildly interested Bertram sat on one end of the couch as Jessie screamed at them, all red face and flying hands for the duration of her twenty-minute rant.

Even with the angry nanny spit threatening to splash her face, Emma couldn't find it in herself to be mad. She doubted Luke could either, judging by how he was as unresponsive as she was.

In all honesty, it felt like Jessie was holding back, considering the two had been wise enough to leave a Post-It with what state they were and had their cell phones on them at all times. So it wasn't like she hadn't had any way of contacting them.

(Plus, Emma was sure that Jessie sneaked a look or two at their savings account to make sure their hadn't been enough withdraws to fuel a runaway.)

Still, even with the ending punishment - like Luke predicted: no movie premieres for three months, and only phones allowed for when Jessie needed to contact them at school or on the bus - Emma was still floating on an oddly satisfied cloud on her way to her room.

It was nice to share an intimate moment with her brother, be his solid rock when he braved the waters of his past, even if it was only for a couple hours.

At least now he knew that she would be there, whenever he needed her.

(Even when it was on a sucky crack-of-dawn train ride to somewhere as shady as Detroit.)

* * *

**Ugh, it feels so good to finally have this finished! It's just been sitting here on my computer forever, and now it's finally done!**

**First off, I want to apologize for pretty abrupt absence from the web for a while. If any of you guys follow my YouTube, Twitter, or Wattpad you can see that, just like on here, all my visits to any of the sites I'm on have been brisk and not progressive.  
**

**I promise that since I'm on spring break I'll try to get some more stuff up - like all the one-shots I've been promising and maybe even a few chapter updates.**

**Things have a little rocky in real life right now and it's kinda been distracting for when I wanna get into my writing zone, and whenever I did write something it felt totally off with the original feel of the story. In turn, I kind of put updating on a pause for a little while, but I swear to you that I never stopped writing.**

**So, in the hopefully near future you can look forward to a couple Lab Rats things, a Mighty Med thing, and maybe even a I Didn't Do It thing (I'm still debating if I want to put it up or not - tell me if it's something you wanna see maybe?)**

**As for any upcoming Jessie fics, I have none rattling around in my brain, and I make no guarantees for any in the future - unless it's just a random one-shot thing I come up with on the spot like this one. **

**Review and tell me what you thought of this one and what you think about the plans for the future. Sound good?**

**Kay, love you, darlings. Bye!**


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